


Timeless

by raven_jones



Series: Timeless Series (Torchwood/Doctor Who) [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: 21st Century, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexuality, Canon Era, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon LGBTQ Female Character, Canon LGBTQ Male Character, Canon Queer Relationship, Canon Temporary Character Death, Cardiff, Comedy, Controversial Jack Harkness, Domestic Boyfriends, F/F, F/M, Gay, Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones Friendship, Hurt Ianto Jones, Ianto Jones & Toshiko Sato Friendship, Ianto Jones Lives, Ianto Jones-Centric, Immortal Ianto Jones, Immortality, Insecure Rhys, Jack Being an Idiot, Jack Harkness Being Jack Harkness, Jack Harkness Flirts, Jack and Ianto are a bundle of hurt, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian, M/M, Magical Ianto Jones, Mentioned Martha Jones, Minor Gwen Cooper/Owen Harper, Minor Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Minor Rhys Williams, Missy Master, Morally gray Jack Harkness, Owen Harper & Ianto Jones Friendship, Post-Episode AU: s01e04 Cyberwoman, Protective Jack Harkness, Queer Themes, Regeneration, Regeneration (Doctor Who), Rift (Torchwood), Romantic Angst, Romantic Comedy, Sad Ianto Jones, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Gay Mess, The Master is back, Time Lord Ianto Jones, Time Travel, f/f - Freeform, janto, m/m - Freeform, missy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:49:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26812432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_jones/pseuds/raven_jones
Summary: Ianto Jones and Jack Harkness have just returned from their first time-travelling adventure (disaster), and things have changed...Only a few weeks ago, the Torchwood team killed Lisa, Ianto's Cyberman girlfriend, leaving him in abject despair. But now Ianto feels completely different: he's never been better, in fact. And it's not just because his coffee is richer than ever, or because Jack spends half his nights in Ianto's bed - no , it's FAR bigger than that. And Gwen Cooper, as usual, is very suspicious.(Sequel to my short story 'Jack and Ianto Travel Through Time')
Relationships: Gwen Cooper/Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper/Rhys Williams, Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, The Doctor/Toshiko Sato
Series: Timeless Series (Torchwood/Doctor Who) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907125
Comments: 36
Kudos: 43





	1. Monday: Happy Hour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ineternity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineternity/gifts).



For the first time in a while, Ianto Jones was truly happy.

It was a Monday morning, which ordinarily would be disheartening, but for Ianto it was brilliant: he got to go to work, and (broadly speaking) save the world from alien invasions, and see Jack and the others at Torchwood, and most importantly make delicious coffee - nobody in the world could love their job as much as Ianto did.

Except, something was different about this particular Monday morning, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it…

“Hey, good morning,” mumbled a sleepy American voice beside him.

Oh. Yeah. _Jack_.

So, a lot had happened since Jack and Ianto had travelled in time, and one of those things was that they now occasionally shared a bed. And a flat. But only some days; Jack still technically lived in the Torchwood Hub.

‘Some days’ was enough to make Ianto deliriously happy, though, and there hadn’t been a day since their adventure that he hadn’t felt absolutely bloody _amazing_.

“Mornin’,” Ianto said, turning over to see Jack watching him, smiling so wide that he thought he might combust. He leaned over to give Ianto a quick kiss on the forehead, then got out of bed and into the shower.

Ianto stayed in bed a little longer, dreamily checking the weather forecast. According to the news there was going to be some heavy rain all over the city, but somehow this only made him happier; at least he and Jack could huddle under an umbrella on the way to work.

When they were both dressed and ready to go - Ianto in a sharp black suit with a fancy raincoat, and Jack in his Army Surplus uniform - Ianto locked the door of his apartment, slipped they keys into his pocket and laced his dainty fingers into Jack’s rough, calloused hand.

“Busy day, today,” Jack said as they set off towards Cardiff Bay. “Tosh has registered a huge spike in rift energy over the city, but she can’t track it to one source, so we’re gonna have to do some fieldwork. In this miserable weather,” he huffed, “it’s less than ideal. Maybe you could make us some of your industrial-strength coffee to get us through the day?” Jack teased, nudging Ianto.

“‘Course, Sir.”

“Save the ‘Sir’ for tonight, will you.”

“Jack!” Ianto hissed, tugging him over to the side of the pavement, away from a group of OAPs sitting on a bench outside the Millenium Centre. “I’m pretty sure that old lady just heard you say that,” he groaned, turning back to see an Asian woman glaring at them and shaking her head.

“And? I bet she spends all her day shunning gays and Jews. What do you care what she thinks?”

Ianto sighed. “You’re right. I don’t care what she thinks about me - about _us_.” He purposely emphasised the ‘us’, cutting his eyes across at Jack to gauge his reaction, but Jack didn’t seem to notice.

* * *

By the time Gwen got to work, Cardiff Bay was pretty much flooded, so she had to take the thoughtfully-named Rift Lift down to the Hub. A significant amount of rain seeped through as she entered, splashing all over Ianto while he delivered fresh coffee to Jack's office - Gwen smiled apologetically, but Ianto barely seemed to notice; he was trotting along, happy as Larry, humming to some 80s song playing on the radio.

Peeling off her coat and setting down her handbag, Gwen was met at the computer stations by Toshiko and Owen.

"Gwen, I'm really sorry, but we're going to have to go back out,” Tosh frowned. “There's some very strange rift activity, I've never seen anything like it, and Jack wants us to investigate."

"All of us?" Gwen asked indignantly. Tosh ignored her tone.

"Yep. Everyone except Ianto, obviously."

"Oh, come on, Tosh, do we all need to go? Can't I stay here and, I don't know, write up notes? I'll keep comms on, you can tell me if you need me to do anything remotely from the Hub…" Gwen was babbling now, trying to have an excuse to stay out of the rain, and she could see that with every second passing Tosh was losing just a little bit more of her will to live.

"A'right," Owen chimed in. "Look, Tosh, just let her stay here, will you? She's going to nag us to death."

Gwen gave him a look, but proceeded to thank Tosh as she agreed that Gwen would be helpful keeping tabs at the computer. Tosh, Owen and Jack took the SUV, and Gwen was alone with Ianto.

Since joining Torchwood, Gwen guessed that Ianto was the person she knew least about: they rarely spoke, except for boardroom meetings and the occasional team outing. He seemed to keep himself to himself, and that was fine by Gwen.

She logged into Tosh's computer and tracked the SUV around the city, watching the little blue dot slowly making its way around the screen.

"Coffee?"

Gwen squealed, "Oh! My God, Ianto, you scared the living daylights out of me."

"Sorry," he laughed, sitting down next to her and putting two cups of coffee on the desk. "How's it going?"

"Fine, yeah, what about you?"

"I'm great, thanks. Come to think of it, I’ve never been better!"

"Good…" Gwen shifted in her seat, turning to face him. "So, I heard you and Jack came into work together this morning. I know it's none of my business, but…" Ianto blushed, looking away.

"Uh, yeah, well, it's nothing, really."

"But you're happy though, aren't you?"

"Yes!" He cringed at his eagerness. "Yep. Very."

Gwen wanted to be happy for Ianto too, but she couldn't help being a little suspicious of him ever since they came back from that ‘night out’. Jack had pretty much killed Ianto's girlfriend less than a month ago, and all of a sudden they were acting like a happily married couple - it all seemed a bit… _off_.

"That's great, Ianto." She faced the screen again, and saw that the SUV was parked in Bute Street.

"Oh, that's near my flat," Ianto remarked, sipping his drink. "I hope I don't have an alien under the floorboards. It wouldn't be the first time, either."

Gwen didn't really know what to say to this, so she switched on her comms.

"Jack, Tosh, have you got anything yet?"

Jack's voice came clear as day through her earpiece. "Nope, nothing yet. We'll keep looking, but we think the energy source is around Bute Park. You and Ianto might as well call it a day, we’ll be here ‘til tonight at the earliest.”

Trying to contain her excitement at the prospect of an afternoon off - her first one since joining Torchwood - Gwen mumbled her thanks before Jack could change his mind, and said to Ianto, “Are you off, too, then?”

“Hmm, no, I think I’ll wait until they get back.”

“Whatever _for_?”

Ianto shrugged. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I kind of love Torchwood. I don’t mind spending a few hours alone in the Hub - with Myfanwy, of course.” At the mention of her name, the Pterodactyl squawked as she flapped about above them. “Plus, I bet they’ll be needing coffee when they get back,” he beamed.

Gwen thought back to all those times before when Ianto said he’d work late, or come in early, to do some ‘filing’ in the ‘basement’. They hadn’t had any reason to be suspicious, but now that Gwen knew what Ianto was capable of - hiding a Cyberman within Torchwood - she wasn’t exactly feeling good about leaving Ianto here on his own.

“Tell you what,” she improvised, her police training coming in handy, “Why don’t we go out for a nice meal? It’ll cheer you up in this miserable weather.”

Did Ianto need cheering up? He was pretty darn happy already, what with Jack, and coffee, and… and everything, really. But Gwen was looking up at him like she genuinely wanted to spend some time with him, so he downed the rest of the coffee and nodded.

“Okay. Where are we going?”

“I know a great pizza place in town. You go on out, I’ll catch up in a minute. Just got to do this thing…” Gwen fiddled around on Tosh’s computer until Ianto disappeared to get his coat, and checking to see that he’d gone, she took a scrap piece of paper, quickly scribbled a note for Owen, and placed it under his mouse mat.

* * *

When Jack, Toshiko and Owen got back to the Hub, it was dark and even more damp. They’d wandered around Cardiff all day, and checked everywhere within a 2-mile-radius, but found nothing. A whole heap of rift energy was just floating around Cardiff with no source and no reason to be there: as you can imagine, Tosh was very frustrated.

“I can’t believe we wasted a _whole day_ . And found nothing. I could’ve continued my translations of 300+ alien languages into English and rejigged the entire database like you’ve been asking me to do for _weeks_ now.” She sulked at Jack.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Go home, get some rest. We’ll try again tomorrow.” Jack’s reassuring, even tone soothed Tosh’s frustration, and she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before darting back out into the rain, via the car park exit.

Owen and Jack were left standing by the door to Jack’s office.

“Don’t I get a goodbye kiss from you, too?” Jack grinned, hands on his hips in mock annoyance.

“Better not, you might be late home,” joked Owen. “Ianto must be bored out of his mind waiting for you in bed.”

Jack gave Owen a warning look. “Good night, Owen. Make sure you don’t get lost on the way back to Gwen’s - I mean, to your flat.”

“Fair play, Captain.” They grinned at each other like kids, and Owen was just about to leave, when he saw something bright yellow out of the corner of his eye. Considering almost everything in the Hub was some varying shade of grey, he went over to see what was at his workstation.

He found a post-it with a note scrawled on the back, in almost illegible handwriting.

_Something wrong. Need 2 talk tmrw. Don’t tell Jack. Gwen x_

Owen glanced back towards Jack’s office, pocketed the note, and took the Rift Lift up to the city.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoyed Chapter 1 of the second instalment of my Torchwood series  
> More on the way soon, please do leave a kudos or a comment if you please :)
> 
> This work is dedicated to my friend ineternity, who is by the way an amazing writer so do check out her Doctor/Master fics!


	2. Tuesday: Gwen is Suspish

Jack decided that that night he’d rather sleep in the Hub; it had been a long day, and aside from that, it wasn’t uncommon for Jack to need some alone time now and again. Despite the fact that he was almost always lonely anyway, it was nice to have some breathing space - he hadn’t been in a relationship for some years, and had grown accustomed to the independence.

But Jack was worried about how Ianto might take this. They hadn’t really talked that much, about feelings or time alone or anything that necessarily hinted towards an _actual relationship_.

So, as Jack lay in the small, single bed in the corner of his office, he wondered: were they having an affair?

The simple answer had to be _yes_ : no one knew (well, they knew but no one said anything), and it was only a ‘sometimes thing’, as opposed to an ‘always thing’.

Nevertheless, Jack really liked Ianto, and he was almost certain that Ianto liked him back.

He sleepily eyed his vortex manipulator, which showed that it was almost 7am. Jack was always up and about early on the days he slept in the Hub, so that the team would think he had been working hard - no time to be lonely, eh?

Just as Jack was about to get out of bed, he heard the front entrance door slide open and closed. Ianto was heading up to the first floor, looking sharp as ever in one of his pristine and very well-fitted suits.

Jack’s heart was hammering. Why was Ianto here? He didn’t start work until 8 - and what the hell was Jack meant to say? He slipped on some trousers, not bothering to put on a shirt, and leaned out of his office, calling up to the greenhouse in a strained, casual voice, “You’re up early.”

Ianto froze, then slowly turned to look down at a half-dressed Jack. He smiled, unconsciously eyeing him up and down.

“Morning, Jack. Just happened to wake up early, so I thought I’d check in on the plants, give ‘em a bit of love, y’know.”

“Aha, right,” Jack half-laughed. Ianto didn’t _seem_ annoyed that he hadn’t come to his flat last night. But, then again, Ianto never really showed his true emotions. He was always smiling and nodding, even when he had a Cybergirlfriend hidden in the basement.

No more words were exchanged until Tosh arrived, bang on time as usual, and politely asked Ianto for an extra-strong cappuccino. Gwen, and then Owen, followed (not together, Jack noted).

“Thanks, Ianto,” Tosh said as she received her drink. “You look… well.”

“I am,” Ianto replied, somewhat dreamily. When he’d woken up, Ianto noticed that his skin was perfectly clear - more perfect than usual, and much softer. Plus, his hair was feeling healthier, and it was silky as it fell through his fingers. Everything about him was glowing today.

Gwen was watching this little interaction between them from the lab, while Owen mixed some chemicals in a conical flask.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about, then?” He asked, fumbling around for a pipette.

Gwen lowered her voice to a murmur. “Um, it’s about Ianto.”

“Ianto?!” Owen scoffed, and Gwen shushed him.

“Oh my God, Owen, keep your voice down! Haven’t you noticed that he’s been a bit, I don’t know, _happy_ recently?”

“He’s shagging Jack,” Owen deadpanned. “Who _wouldn’t_ be happy about that?”

“If you’re not going to take this seriously -”

“No, no, alright, go on. I’m all ears.”

Gwen sat down on a stool, her elbows resting on the table where Owen was working. “His girlfriend just died, and he was depressed. Then he goes time-travelling with Jack, and all of a sudden he won’t stop grinning from ear to ear! Doesn’t that seem suspicious to you?”

Owen shrugged. He put down his apparatus and leaned back against the table, folding his arms and watching Ianto and Tosh laughing about something by the Rift Manipulator.

“What, you think something happened to him when they travelled through the rift in that church?”

“Yes! Exactly.” Jack had told Gwen about everything that happened in 1897 when they were alone in his office, and Gwen had volunteered the information to Owen the next day. No doubt he had told Tosh, too.

“Right… and what do you want me to do exactly?”

“Well I thought maybe you could run some tests on him, you know, just to check him out. Nothing major, just a basic scan.”

“Have you told Jack about this?”

Gwen bit her lip, and gave him a pleading look. Owen sighed.

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

“Oh, you are a star! Thank you.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek, hesitating. “And don’t tell Jack, yeah?”

Owen had to find an excuse to get Ianto into the lab and onto the patient bed without seeming like he was coming on to him.

This would be tricky.

“Ianto! Can you come here a minute, mate? I need your help with something…”

“Hullo, what can I do for you?”

“Take a seat, Tea Boy.”

“Alright, Rat Man.” Ianto perched himself onto the bed, and clasped his hands together in his lap like a contented child. Owen resisted the urge to gag. At least he could now measure Ianto’s heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and hormone levels.

“So. Heard you’ve been… dabbling… with Jack recently. Is it true?”

Ianto tried to frown. “If you called me here just to gossip about my sex life…” He was about to get up, but Owen held him back.

“Nonono, sorry, that wasn’t it. I just… You don’t seem very angry about it.”

“I’ve always been a tolerant person. I forgive you.”

Owen noted that Ianto’s expression was practically fixed into a smile. Hmm.

So he slapped him.

“Ow! What d’you do that for?” Ianto laughed.

“That wasn’t funny. Why are you laughing?”

“I don’t know!” Ianto wheezed, clutching his stomach. _God, he’s acting like Father bloody Christmas_ , Owen thought.

“I’m sorry about this, mate,” Owen said, sure that Ianto couldn’t even hear him over the sound of his own joy.

He picked something from the operating table, rolled up Ianto’s sleeve and stuck a needle in him. Ianto gasped, and his eyes rolled back into his head. Owen caught him just in time, lay him down, and pulled a curtain around the bed.

“Just a basic scan…”

* * *

Gwen Cooper was Not Happy when she found out that Owen had knocked Ianto out with a tranquilizer.

"I said to do a _basic scan_ \- not tie him to the bed and perform surgery!"

"Woah, okay, firstly, it's not surgery. See this?" Owen pointed at a screen with a scalpel, showing a graph of Ianto's vital signs.

"That can't be right."

"You wanna bet?"

Ianto's vital signs were… non-human. His pulse was beating erratically at 229bpm, and his blood pressure was off the scale - he shouldn't even be alive!

Gwen pointed at a jagged blue line. "And what's this, then? I've never seen _that_ before."

Owen, for once, looked serious. "As well as vital signs, this machine is wired to detect rift energy. You haven't seen it before, because no human we've ever scanned has had rift energy _inside_ them. And he's off the scale - we need to tell Jack."

"Christ, I…" Gwen paused. "Okay. Boardroom meeting. 10 minutes." Gwen gave the unconscious Ianto a fleeting, worried frown, then marched out of the lab and up to Jack's office. She spoke soberly through the speaker system: "Urgent meeting in the boardroom in 10."

A few minutes later, Tosh and Jack joined Owen and Gwen at the boardroom table.

"Where's Ianto?" Asked Jack.

"Never mind that, we've found something." Gwen laid out a map of Cardiff on the table, and pointed to the centre of the city. "Yesterday, you three went searching around here for suspicious rift activity. I know what's causing it."

Tosh raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Well then, share."

"It's Ianto."

Jack snorted. "What?" When he looked over at Gwen, she wasn't laughing. "Is this a joke?"

"Tosh," Gwen asked, eyes fixed on Jack's, "have you noticed that Ianto's been acting a bit different, lately?"

Tosh shifted in her seat, and said nothing.

"Owen?"

"Definitely. He's just too happy - won't stop bloody smiling."

"And you think that's a _problem_?" Jack interjected sharply.

"Yes, I do. We killed his girlfriend a month ago, and now he's living on cloud nine. Something's wrong, Jack. Show them," Gwen motioned to Owen. He remotely displayed Ianto’s lab results on the big screen.

"These," he explained, "are Ianto's vital signs. Notice anything?"

Clenching his teeth, Jack stood up, his back hunched and his palms resting flat on the table. Gwen noticed that he seemed angry, but not surprised - which, considering Ianto was practically _radioactive_ , was concerning. She waited for him to speak, but he didn’t.

“Jack, did you know about this?”

He glared at her, and in a low voice demanded, “Where is he.”

Owen darted out of his seat, knocking it over, and blocked the door to the boardroom.

“You can’t - we don’t know what’s wrong with him! He’s _dangerous_.”

“Get out of my way!” Jack shoved Owen to the side and bolted through the Hub into the lab, where he found Ianto lying unconscious on the autopsy table. His wrists and ankles were tied to it, his shirt unbuttoned with electrodes and wires sticking out of his chest.

Jack quickly untied him, muttering to himself, tears springing into his eyes. Gwen and Owen stood in the doorway, trying to reason with him, but he wasn’t listening; he picked Ianto up and held him in his arms.

“Ianto, can you hear me? Are you okay? _Ianto_? Please…” His voice broke, and he looked back over his shoulder, his voice hauntingly quiet.

“Meeting over. Get out.”

* * *

Jack let out a catastrophic sob. In a way, he knew this was coming - he just hadn’t wanted to see it.

Ianto _was_ different. There was no denying that. And yet…

Jack had ignored it simply because he didn’t want to deal with the reality, and now Ianto was in trouble.

Ianto’s face was peaceful. As he held him, Jack remembered when - before the incident - the team had gone on a night out in Swansea, and himself and Ianto had found themselves in an empty hotel room at 3am. Nothing had happened, of course - but the memory of Ianto’s features as he slept, so gentle, and his soft, shallow breaths, were vivid in Jack’s mind. It was the first time he had seen his teammate look truly _okay_.

But now everything had gone to shit, because Ianto wasn’t even technically alive anymore. And, yet again, it was all Jack’s fault.

He waited until the rest of the team had dismissed themselves, awkwardly collecting their coats and eyeing the laboratory, and then carried Ianto to his office and placed him on the bed. There wasn’t enough room for the both of them, so Jack sat on the edge, and stroked Ianto’s hair out of his face until he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer. Eventually, his head drooped onto Ianto’s chest, and he fell asleep.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tensions are rising in Torchwood, what the HELL is going on?? Find out in like 3 working days


	3. Wednesday Morning: Send Help

In the early hours of Wednesday, Ianto woke up feeling groggy and a little bit nauseous. For a moment he was disorientated by the unfamiliarity of his surroundings - everything was metal - and something heavy on top of him - Jack’s torso.

Ianto deduced that he was in Jack’s bed, in his office, in the middle of the night. Had he fallen asleep here…?

No - his heart skipped a beat as the memories came flooding back, flashing before his eyes like a horror film, and he sat up so fast his head began to spin. Jack tumbled onto the floor with a thump.

“What - hey - Ianto?” He groaned, rubbing his head. “Ianto!”

“What happened?” Ianto whispered, looking around frantically. “Owen! He stabbed me!”

Jack reached over to the light switch and flicked it on. He could see Ianto clearly now, pale as ever and soaked in sweat, his shirt still open.

“Ianto, calm down, it’s okay. No one stabbed you, you're alright.” Jack took Ianto’s face in his hands. “Okay?”

“Right,” he exhaled, eyeing Jack's mouth. “Okay. But, oh God, what happened to me?”

“Well, uh, I'm not sure. Owen… I didn’t want to leave you in the lab all night, so…”

Ianto furrowed his eyebrows, confused. He looked down at his open shirt, and so did Jack; an unspoken conversation passed between them, wherein Ianto mentally inquired as to whether Jack had unbuttoned him, and Jack blushed and mentally replied that no, he hadn’t, and Ianto’s eyelids twitched as he thought about what a shame that was.

Jack didn’t want to tell him anything just yet. _A few more hours of bliss_ , he begged, to whichever forces were listening. _Just a little longer before I have to lose him_.

“Shuffle over a bit?” He asked, smiling tentatively. This was a welcome distraction from Ianto’s pounding anxiety, and he squeezed himself against the wall so that Jack could get in beside him and pull the blanket over them both.

“Go back to sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

Morning. Yes. That was perfectly fine with Ianto. No point worrying _now_ , was there…

He nuzzled his head between Jack’s neck and shoulder, and Jack protectively put an arm around him.

“Everything will be okay,” he lied.

* * *

Toshiko hadn’t slept well; she was too worried for Ianto. Sure, they weren’t that close, but she would be concerned for _anyone_ who had unimaginable levels of rift energy buzzing around inside them, and apparently causing frequent power cuts all over Bute, Cathays and Splott.

She picked up her phone from the bedside cabinet, and was surprised to find 9 unread texts from Gwen, and 2 from Owen. Owen had never texted Tosh before, even though she’d given him her number as soon as she joined Torchwood. Which was 3 years ago.

But her heart sank when she realised that this was probably just a work thing. Not scheduling a date, or planning a birthday meal (it was Tosh’s birthday this weekend; no one had said a word), or going out for drinks after work. I mean, if the team ever _did_ go out for drinks, Tosh wasn’t really invited - she wasn’t much of a ‘party animal’ compared to Owen and Gwen, who liked to make out with strangers, or Jack, who would make out with any and everything with a postcode.

Gwen 💅🐑, 11:35pm: hi tosh

Gwen 💅🐑, 11:36pm: you know you said theres rift energy all over the city, and we thought it was ianto, can u confirm that?

Gwen 💅🐑, 11.36pm: he has the energy in him but idk if thats the cause

Gwen 💅🐑, 11.45pm: im sure it is tho, it HAS to be

Gwen 💅🐑, 01:02am: sorry if youre asleep but do you know anyone who can help?

Gwen 💅🐑, 01:06am: or do u speak to martha? She never gave me her number :/

Gwen 💅🐑, 07:18am: you said the rift energy had no source right?

Gwen 💅🐑, 07:18am: im coming in a bit late today

Gwen 💅🐑, 07:19am: talk later in private x

Owen 💘, 03:00am: If Gwen’s texting you just ignore her.

Owen 💘, 05:57am: But I think she’s right, we have no idea what's going on. We need help.

* * *

Owen barely slept last night - like Tosh, he kept thinking about Ianto. How come all this was happening to the tea boy? Although, then again, he was grateful it wasn’t happening to him, or Gwen, or Jack.

For once he was bang on time, arriving at 8:00, and Tosh and Gwen were late. Owen didn’t know what to do with himself, so he set out to find Jack, hoping that he’d cooled off from yesterday (and, he supposed, hoping that Ianto was alright too).

The door to his office was ajar, and he could see Jack sitting in his bed with Ianto crying into his chest, his chin resting lightly on Ianto’s head as he rubbed his back, occasionally murmuring something soothing into his hair.

Ianto was still alive, then. To be fair, Owen was impressed at his resilience - he didn’t think that any of the others could deal with being… whatever he was.

Jack looked up and caught Owen’s eye for a second, holding his gaze while tears clung to his eyelashes like dew. Owen was the first to look away.

Jack continued consoling Ianto, even though he wanted to join him in weeping. But he kept a stiff upper lip, because that was what he always did: if the Captain had hope, then everyone else had to have hope too.

When they’d both woken up, sweaty from each other’s body heat all night, Jack knew he had to tell Ianto. He made it swift, of course: cut to the chase, get to the point, rip the plaster off, that’s how it’s done. But that didn’t make it any easier.

Ianto didn’t say a word when Jack explained the scans, just sat there, biting his lip and looking at the ground, frightened but with the ghost of a smile on his face.

Now, he looked up at Jack, the tears subsiding.

“Am I going to die?” It came out barely audible.

“I don’t know.” Jack exhaled, then continued, “But, Ianto Jones, I swear to you I will do everything in my power to keep you alive, and keep you safe.”

Three unspoken words lingered on his tongue like the aftertaste of wine, aromatic but acidic; he hadn’t uttered them in such a long time - maybe centuries now. How had he used them with such ease, before? When he was mortal, they were like a throwaway comment: thanks, _I love you_ . _I love you_ , mate. Yeah, ‘course _I love you_.

But this was different: this was more than casual, and that was why it was impossible for him to get the words out. He was too scared that it would mean something this time.

“Can I ask you something, Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Right now, I don’t know if I’ll survive. I don’t know what’s wrong with me - according to you, my heart is going at over 200 beats a minute, and I have tonnes of rift energy fizzing around inside me and all over Cardiff for no reason. I’m crying, I should feel complete and utter despair, and yet… Why do I feel so happy?”

Jack froze. What could he say? If this was to do with aliens, it was beyond him - he'd never come across anyone or anything that could manipulate emotion to this extent.

So he changed the subject: "Shall I get you some coffee? That’ll cheer- I mean, that’ll help.”

At this exact moment Toshiko burst through the door, unusually dishevelled with her hair ruffled by the wind and her glasses at an angle on her nose.

“Hi - sorry - Gwen’s called another meeting. Right now.”

“Christ, does she realise _I’m_ the one in charge here,” Jack mock-complained, peeling his tear-soaked shirt off Ianto’s face. “Come on, get yourself dressed.” He smiled encouragingly.

“Um, without Ianto. Sorry.” Tosh blushed, looking away.

“Tell her I won’t be a minute.” Tosh nodded and left just as hastily as she’d arrived, accidentally slamming the door and making Ianto jump.

“I’m really sorry about this.” Jack turned his back to Ianto as he changed into a fresh blue shirt. Ianto didn’t understand why - they’d stripped off each other’s clothes several times before, and there was nothing embarrassing about that. Was he _shy_ ? Ianto’s lips curled as he considered this - _Jack Harkness_ , being shy. Surely the world was ending.

Gwen sat at the head of the boardroom table. When Jack walked in, he decided he’d just stand.

“Right,” she started. “Thank you all for coming, as I’m sure you’re aware, our main priority now is helping Ianto, so we need to gather all the information we’ve got. We’ll start with Tosh.”

“Tosh?” Jack interjected. “Uh, no offence Tosh, but I was literally present when Ianto got turned to stone by some Victorian-style Weeping Angels and I threw us both into a rift that could’ve killed him. Don’t _I_ get a say?”

Everyone looked at Gwen; Gwen looked at Tosh. Tosh swallowed.

“Uh, well, I think you were right when you said Ianto might be causing this spike in energy, but I have no idea how. I created a new program - more advanced than my PDA - to track it to a source, but I haven’t got anything yet.”

“Owen?”

“I dunno, I’m a doctor, not a physicist.”

“You’re an _alien_ doctor. Have you found out anything else about Ianto’s condition?”

“Was I supposed to?”

Gwen rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake, _yes_. Okay, Jack?”

Jack shrugged, already feeling defeated. “What do you want me to say? That I should know what’s wrong with him, because I know everything? I don’t have a fucking clue!” He kicked the door in frustration, screaming, “I - don’t - know!”

When he slumped against the wall, hiding his face in his hands, Gwen walked over to him and took them in her own. He was forced to look her in the eye as she spoke, more sternly than he was expecting.

“Look, I know your boyfriend is in trouble, but you need to keep it together, _for him_. We need to work as a team, so snap out of it, yeah?” She dropped his hands. “Are you ready to talk tactics, Harkness? Or are you going to stand there and sulk yourself to death?”

“I hate you,” he mumbled, and Gwen smirked.

“Good boy. Now sit down, and talk.” Jack sat up straight and did as she said.

“Alright, what do we know. The most important thing is that Ianto isn't human anymore, he's undergone some sort of change, which probably occurred when we went through that rift in the church. And the result of this change is that he can't stop feeling happy and his blood pressure is through the roof."

"And he looks different, too," Tosh chimed in. "I'd say since you came back his skin has been glowing. In a good way, not a radioactive way."

"You're right, he's almost perfect, so to speak. Clear skin, softer hair, a bigger -"

" _Anyway_ , we still don't know the cause." Gwen glanced at Tosh and Owen. "But we've been thinking..."

"You really shouldn't do that -"

"We're way out of our depth here, Jack. We need specialist help. What we need is the Doctor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cue Jack screaming Doooctoooooorrrr*
> 
> What to expect in the next chapter? A romantic dinner and some Comedy™ to balance out the Angst™


	4. Wednesday Afternoon: Finally, a Plan!

The plan: Jack, Gwen, Tosh, Owen and Martha would each split up and send a signal out to the Doctor, so that he’d know they needed help down here on Earth; Ianto would rest and Owen would replenish his coffee supply every hour, on the hour.

(“Coffee’s the last thing he needs when his blood pressure’s through the roof,” Owen argued. Jack ignored him.)

When they left the boardroom, each took to their respective positions. This involved Gwen driving out to the Brecon Beacons; Tosh in the centre of Cardiff with the kitted out SUV; Martha tracking the Doctor from the UNIT base in Geneva; Owen staying in the Hub and monitoring Ianto; and Jack sitting in his office where the others had no clue as to what he was doing (probably sulking) (it’s an American thing).

* * *

Gwen’s Google Search History, Wednesday 19th May:

**tractor**

**tractor cardiff**

**where can I get a tractor cardiff**

**B and Q cardiff**

**farms in wales**

**corn farms in wales**

**how to write doctor in gallifrey (** Did you mean: **how to write doctor in** **_Gallifreyan_ ** **)**

**linear gallifreyan**

**linear gallifreyan letters**

* * *

Gwen Cooper had, understandably, never come across a crop circle before in her relatively sheltered life as a police officer in Cardiff, but she was damn well willing to give it a go.

She’d located a farm that was only a 2-3 hour drive from the city, and used her Torchwood ID to force the owner to let her mow down some funky shapes into his corn.

“Ay, but ye won’t run over me sheep will yous?” He asked as he tried to keep up with Gwen marching up a steep hill. “It’s just they’re my prize mutton, ay.”

“Don’t worry Mr Lewis, I won’t run over your precious sheep.” There was a dangerous grin on Gwen’s face. “Now get out of my way.”

Three hours and a lot of swearing (and one injured lamb) later, Gwen admired her work and called Martha Jones.

“Phase One is complete. How’s Phase Two?”

“Devastatingly tedious,” replied Martha, who was taking a more civilised (but still near impossible) approach, by using UNIT’s most advanced, top-secret technology to track the whereabouts of the Doctor - not only in the present, but also in the past and future hundred years.

“I’m almost done, too, but there’s no sign of him. Any news on Toshiko?”

“I’m about to call her now. Good luck.”

“And you.”

“Hi Tosh, it’s Gwen. What’s the news on Phase Three?”

Toshiko was balancing the phone between her head and shoulder as she tapped in the final bit of Morse code to her laptop, which was plugged into the SUV.

“I’m about to initiate the plan, fingers crossed. This took a lot of work, even for me.”

“We don’t deserve you, Tosh. Look, I’ll call you back, gotta check in on Ianto. Good luck!”

“Oh, I’m gonna need it.” When Gwen hung up, Tosh lifted her head and let the phone fall to the ground. “Okay, you can do this, Tosh. Three… two… one…” The tip of her finger met a small, silver button hidden under the ‘space’ key on her laptop, and the whole city went dark.

She shrieked - “It’s working!” - and watched in sheer amazement as every single light in the city; TVs, phones, fridges, microwaves, toothbrushes, lamps; all flashed in unison, singing one word: _Doctor_.

Back at the Hub, Ianto yelped when he noticed all the lights and computer screens were flashing erratically.

“It’s alright, it’s just Tosh. Morse code,” Owen said, as if that would explain anything. Ianto shrugged it off, and reluctantly took a sip of Owen’s terrible coffee. How did they ever cope before hiring a professional teaboy?

Owen’s mobile rang, and he answered it with a smirk.

“Alright, Gwen?”

“Yes, yes, is Ianto there?”

“Yes, I’m fine too, thanks for asking. Ianto is also alive.”

“Is he stable?

“Is he ever?”

“Ugh, I hate you sometimes.”

“‘Course you do.”

After a moment, Gwen said, “Me, Martha and Tosh have sent out the message. Can you check on Jack for me?”

“What was he supposed to do?”

“No idea. Just check, yeah? I’m driving back now. See you later.”

“By later, do you mean in my bed?”

Gwen hung up, suppressing a smile.

Jack was lounging in his office chair, feet up on the desk, stuffing a buttered croissant into his mouth.

“Owennnn, how’s it going my boy!” He leaped up onto his feet and held his arms out, hoping for an embrace. Owen narrowed his eyes.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Calling the Doctor!” he sang, the croissant still in his mouth.

“And how are you doing that?”

“With this!” He took a flip phone out of his trouser pocket and flamboyantly keyed in a 

long chain of numbers.

The phone rang, and rang, and rang, until eventually a voice made Owen jump.

“I’m sorry, the person you are calling is not available. Please try again, or leave a message after the-”

“You can go,” Owen told Ianto. “Doctor’s orders, you’re not going to die today, so go home and watch some trash TV and then go to bed. We’ve got work to do.”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“The rest of us.”

“All evening?”

“Yup.”

Ianto gulped. “Is this about me?” He asked, his voice small.

“Yes, now go. And remember, alcohol solves everything.”

* * *

More than usual, Ianto didn’t know what to do with himself. His flat suddenly seemed so _mundane_ , after everything that was happening to him, and he almost despised it. The only thing stopping him from walking right back out was the promise of a warm, not-made-by-Owen cup of coffee.

It was just past 5pm. What did normal people do on a Wednesday night? Maybe Owen was right about the alcohol.

By the time he’d flicked through some TV channels, read a few chapters of ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (which he didn’t enjoy _at all_ , because it felt wrong to feel so happy when reading about a misogynistic, theocratic regime based upon reality), watered the cress in the kitchen, showered and changed into a fresh pair of blue pyjamas, and found some change down the back of the sofa, nearly an hour had passed.

So Ianto sank down into his bed and asked himself a very important question - one he’d learnt from one of his counsellors at school: what the hell aren’t you doing, and why the hell aren’t you doing it?

This was easy: what was he not doing? Having fun. (He was happy, sure, but this wasn’t necessarily naturally induced, and it certainly didn’t suggest that fun was being had).

And why was he not having fun? This was a little trickier. If he wanted, he could’ve asked himself when was the last time he had _truly_ had fun, but he was too tired to bother with this level of nihilism on a Wednesday. Those things were strictly reserved for Sunday afternoons.

In all honesty, he was just distracting himself with these wandering thoughts. He knew exactly what he wanted to do; he wanted to be with Jack.

* * *

When his vortex manipulator told him it was 8pm, Jack shut his eyes and let go of himself. His limbs were heavy with the weight of Ianto’s situation, and didn’t he know it. The anxiety and fear were like a shadow; big and black and never too far away.

Gwen knocked softly and opened the door, peering inside.

“You okay there?” She asked. Jack sighed.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?"

“Always.” She smiled, closing the door behind her and perching on the edge of his desk. “Are you going home?"

Visibly puzzled, Jack gave her a look.

“You know, the flat.” When he gave no further indication of understanding what she meant, she said, “ _I-an-to’s a-part-ment_ ,” exaggerating every syllable as if explaining pronunciation to a confused child.

“Oh, no no no, I don’t _live_ there.” He corrected her quickly. “I live in the Hub.”

“Who are you kidding, Jack Harkness?”

He considered this: who _was_ he kidding? Most likely himself, more than anyone else. Still, he stood his ground.

“I’m not going ‘home’, actually. I need a break. I’ll stay with Myfanwy and we’ll have a girls night in, gossiping about TV shows and painting our nails. You’re welcome to join us,” he joked, but his voice was humourless.

Gwen silently took in a breath, and Jack braced himself for the tempest:

But it didn’t come.

Without a word, she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, her lips lingering there just a little too long.

“Go home.”

* * *

A storm was brewing just as Jack unlocked the door to the flat; thunder rumbled and sparks of lightning illuminated the dark sky. A thunderstorm in May?

He’d known weirder things to happen.

“Ianto? Hello?” There was no reply. “Anybody ho-ome?” Jack cursed under his breath, dropped his coat on the doormat and raced into the living room, to find Ianto looking out of the window, shaking, trying to steady himself. Before Jack could rush over and steer him into bed to rest, he registered two things. Firstly, the room was dark: all the lamps had been turned off, and the only light source was an array candles littered around the place. Secondly, something smelt burnt. No, not burnt - roasted. It was at this exact moment that Jack realised what was going on.

Ianto turned to face him from the window.

“H-hi,” he stammered.

Jack cautiously stepped past the dinner-laden table and stood in front of him. Ianto couldn’t bear to make eye contact.

“Did you… make dinner?”

“Pfft, no, why would I do that.” They giggled awkwardly, and Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto’s neck. A flash of lightning made them jump, and Ianto’s eyes glowed yellow, contrasting his pallid skin.

“You don’t look well.”

“I’m well enough.”

“You hungry?”

“Starving.”

Taking Ianto’s hand, Jack pulled him over to the table and pulled out his seat, then tucked it in and took his own place opposite. Their plates were full and colourful; roast beef, carrots, peas, potatoes and gravy.

“You did all this?" Jack gestured around the room, to the candles and the dinner and the wine and the vase filled with bright red roses. “In just a couple of hours?”

“What can I say, I’m a fantastic cook. Among other things,” Ianto smiled sheepishly and looked at Jack properly for the first time. “Do you mind?”

“Mind? Why would I mind?” Jack asked, chewing a mouthful of beef and thinking, _also a fantastic_ boyfriend.

Ianto shrugged. “Forget I asked.”

Jack immediately forgot, and focused on the breathtakingly good food in front of him. They ate mostly in silence, but not the uncomfortable sort; there was something electric in the air, the charged particles of a storm, but something else, too, something sizzling away around them.

Little did they know, it was love.

One thing everyone knew about Jack was that he was very, _very_ impatient (unlike Ianto, who had waited three years for Jack to like him back and didn’t complain even once).

The thing that Jack was particularly impatient about right now was knowing whether him and Ianto were in an actual, proper, honest-to-God relationship - not an affair, or a friends-with-benefits thing. He wasn’t sure why, but he needed to know urgently.

Jack was sitting on the sofa, with Ianto’s head in his lap, and the radio playing softly in the background as it struck 11pm. They’d been talking about life, and ended up reminiscing on the time when they first met. A stray Weevil had attacked Jack, tearing at his neck, and Ianto came out of nowhere and whacked it with a stick, saving Jack from dying again.

“You were so into me,” Jack smirked. “I could see it in your eyes, _definitely_ into me.”

“So were you! You flirted right back, remember - ‘like the suit, by the way’!”

“It’s not my fault you look good in a suit, honey.”

“It’s not my fault you look good in a military coat!”

“Yeah?”

Ianto lifted himself up so he was at eye-level with Jack. “Yeah.”

The radio crackled, and a thrumming noise pulsated throughout the building. There was a thud from upstairs - neighbours were always moving in and out, assembling and dropping furniture in the middle of the night, and Jack ignored it.

“Did you hear that?” Ianto held up a finger. Someone was running up and down the stairs.

“Probably just some kids messing around. Anyway…”

The floor shook, and Jack held Ianto tightly by the waist. Their noses touched, but neither of them moved away; they breathed each other in, and Jack took his chance.

“Do you love me?”

Without missing a beat, Ianto exhaled, “Yes.”

“I think I do too. Love you, I mean.”

“Sometimes I feel like you don’t notice me.”

“I always notice you.”

“Good.” Ianto tilted his head and their lips met, soft and warm and desperate. His hands rested on Jack’s chest, and Jack ran his fingers through Ianto’s hair, because he knew he liked it.

When they parted for breath, Jack murmured, “Do you want to stay with me?”

“Forever.”

“But you’re not immortal.” Jack leaned in again, but Ianto held back.

“Did I fucking stutter?” He breathed, and buried his head in Jack’s neck.

The door burst open with a bang, like someone had kicked it down, but Jack and Ianto didn’t process this until a loud, confused voice exclaimed;

“What is she doing? I’m in Wales, why has she brought me to _Wales_? Of all places. It’s like something is calling me, pulling me back here no matter where I go, like - oh.”

The woman paused, her mouth forming a surprised ‘o’ when she saw two men holding on to each other and gaping at her. She recognised one of them as her old friend Captain Jack Harkness, but figured this would be a bad time for introductions.

“Uh, I - I just - I’ll just go and do a thing,” The woman said, slowly backing out of the room. “Won’t be a minute.” She put up her hood and darted out into the hallway.

Ianto was the first to break the silence.

“Wha… what just happened?”

Jack’s brain was racing as he tried to join the dots.

“Doctor…” He whispered into thin air.

“Who?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay okay I know we all want Doctor content and I promise you'll be well fed in the next chapter 😌
> 
> I've never really written a proper romance before but I hope the dinner scene did their relationship justice (feedback is always appreciated aha)


	5. Thursday Morning: Doctor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We already know from the show that Jack is 'morally grey' - willing to make a sacrifice for the greater good.  
> But it isn't always easy.

Toshiko was at her computer station in the Hub, analysing the recurring meteorological disturbances over the past few days, when she noticed something moving out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see what it was, and was greeted by a woman in a long, grey coat, with a blonde bob and blue trousers that were too short.

“How did you get in here?” Tosh gasped, jumping up and moving towards the Hub entrance, where the woman leaned casually against the cog doors. “How long have you been there?”

“Oh, don’t mind me, just waitin’ for a friend.” The woman didn’t even look up; she was fiddling with a metal rod. It made a buzzing sound and sparks flew from the tip.

“Ow! That hurt! Stupid sonic.”

Tosh switched on her earpiece, and stammered, “J-Jack? Anyone? We have - we have a security breach, there’s an intruder in the Hub!”

“Oi, _intruder_?! That’s no way to treat a guest.” The woman hopped down from the entrance and strolled over to Toshiko, who was too stunned to move.

“Gwen, is it? No - Gwen’s the one with the hideous fringe. I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“How do you know Gwen? Who _are_ you!” Tosh yelled, more frightened than before. Keeping her eyes on the woman, she fumbled around the desk for her gun, and pointed it at her.

“Sorry, I don’t do guns.” In a split second the woman had taken the weapon out of Tosh’s hand and thrown it far out of reach. Then she smiled; intruders didn’t usually smile at you when caught intruding, thought Tosh. And this intruder seemed quite charming, with her wonky lips and chaotic gait.

Owen’s voice popped up in Tosh’s ear; “I’m on my way. Are they armed?”

“No, no, not armed. Just hurry up. And call Jack!”

“Ah, that would be Jack Harkness! Old friend of mine. When I say _old_ …” There was a faraway look in the woman’s eyes, but she soon snapped back to reality.

“Oh! I haven’t introduced myself yet. Silly me, always forgettin’ to do that. Hi, I’m the Doctor.”

Toshiko’s legs gave way, and the Doctor had to catch her before she fell backwards and hit the ground. Tosh’s eyelids fluttered as she looked up at the woman’s endearing face leaning over her; the Doctor looked back, focusing on Tosh’s pupils to make sure she was still conscious.

“Steady,” she laughed, pulling Tosh upright a little too fast. Their faces were inches apart, but neither of them stepped away. “I may be a Doctor, but I’m not _that_ sort of Doctor. Well I kind of am - I’m trained in 340 different types of First Aid. Uh, you look a bit flustered, do you need to sit down?”

Tosh couldn’t speak, so she just nodded vaguely. The Doctor steered her back to her seat, and shoved some very important things off the desk so that she could perch herself on the edge and swing her legs. She missed doing that - it was impossible to sit on the TARDIS console; she’d tried on several occasions, but she was just too short to get up there comfortably.

Just as Toshiko was recovering her senses, and able to look at the Doctor without feeling faint, Owen came down the Rift Lift, spinning around and haphazardly aiming his pistol.

“Tosh? Is everything okay?” He called.

“Yeah, false alarm, it’s fine.”

“You people and your guns,” the Doctor tutted. “When will you learn that words are stronger than weapons?”

“Uh, who’s Blondie?” Owen asked, shoving the gun back into the waistband of his jeans as he stepped off the platform.

“I’m the Doctor, hello. And you’re not Jack Harkness - tell me, is he usually this late to a date?”

Tosh raised her eyebrows. “Date? You mean you and he…?”

“Oh, no! I mean, not anymore - there was this one time -”

“Are you shitting me?” The girls turned to Owen, whose jaw was practically on the floor. “ _You’re_ the Doctor? I can’t believe it.”

The Doctor grinned. “That’s ma name, don’t wear it out.”

“But… she’s _Northern_.” Owen whispered, incredulous.

“I know, isn’t it brilliant,” hummed Tosh, who had somewhat of a reputation for dating Northerners, including but not limited to a soldier from 1818 and a lovely brunette woman who turned out to be a slitheen.

To complicate things further, Gwen had turned up behind them all without warning, and was aiming _her_ gun at the Doctor too.

“Really? _You too_?”

“Owen, Tosh, who’s this?”

“The Doctor,” they said in unison.

Gwen lowered her gun and apologised profusely.

“You’re Gwen?” The Doctor asked; then to Toshiko, “I noticed the fringe, see.”

“Gwen Cooper, formerly of the Cardiff police force. Nice to meet you, Doctor, it’s an honour. I’m a big fan - Jack’s told us so much about you…”

The Doctor’s face lit up. “Aw, really?”

“No,” Owen deadpanned. The Doctor scrunched her face.

“Hmph. Charming, you lot.”

Finally, late as usual, Captain Jack turned up (with Ianto by his side). When he saw the Doctor chatting away with the others, he stopped mid-sentence; Ianto froze too, and they gave each other a Meaningful Look.

“Is that her?” asked Ianto.

“Yup. Come say hello.” Jack grinned, and marched forward, shouting, “Doctorrrr!” in greeting.

“Jack! It’s good to see ya, buddy.” They embraced, and Jack realised that he was now much taller than her. She stood on her toes and kissed him lightly, much to Toshiko’s dismay.

“Doctor, you’re…” Jack hesitated, picking his words with care. “Doctor, you’re _Northern_.”

“Am I? Oh, so I am. Hey, sounds cool though, much better than Scottish - or Welsh.” She wrinkled her nose. “Don’t even like sheep. Anyway, who’s this?”

“This is my friend, Ianto Jones.”

“Boyfriend,” corrected Ianto as he shook her hand.

“Yeah, shut up.”

The Doctor just laughed, eyes darting between them. “I kind of guessed. Sorry about last night by the way, it’s ma TARDIS, she’s not workin’ properly. Keeps dragging me out of places and dropping me back here, no idea why. I thought you could help.”

The team stared at her, confused.

“Wait, so that’s why you’re here? Didn’t you get our messages?”

“Ah - I knew I’d forgotten something!” The Doctor patted her pockets and fished out a tiny black flip phone. “I checked my phone this morning, like I do once a year, and saw 219 missed calls from you. And then ma TARDIS picked up the other stuff - nice touch with the crop circles by the way, I love a good crop circle.”

“That was my idea,” Gwen pushed forward, so she was face to face with the Doctor. “I knew it’d get your attention, ma’am.”

“Ooh, please don’t do that. Not ma’am. Or sir. Just Doctor, please.”

“Doctor,” Gwen continued. “Something’s happened to Ianto, and we don’t know what it is, which is why we need your help. It’s like he’s not _human_ anymore. Can you help?”

“I think…” the Doctor mused. “I think what we need is some biscuits. And tea - lots and lots of tea. Let’s chat about this over a cuppa, eh?”

Gwen raised her eyebrows at Jack, who shrugged. “I’ll get the biscuits.”

* * *

While Jack rummaged around the cupboards in the Hub’s kitchen, he heard Tosh walk in behind him, her heels clicking lightly on the metal floor.

“How’s the crush?” He joked.

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, you know what I’m talking about. I saw the way you looked at her, with those gooey eyes. Shame she’s oblivious, I think you’d make a great couple.

Tosh couldn’t help blushing, and was glad that Jack wasn’t looking at her. She swiftly changed the subject.

“What I came to say was, I’ve been thinking.”

“You know I don’t like it when you lot do that.”

She ignored the sarcasm. “We know how dangerous rifts can be, but not what they can do to a person. There’s a possibility, albeit small, that Ianto might just be… well, _immortal_ now.”

Jack stopped rummaging. Ianto? Immortal?

No way, that couldn’t happen.

“I’m just saying, we need to be prepared for the worst.”

“The worst?” Jack echoed. “I don’t think he… what the hell, Tosh?”

“Ah, I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry. I know how much he means to you.” She bowed her head and left the kitchen before Jack could reproach her, joining the others in the boardroom.

_I know how much he means to you_. What was that supposed to mean?

In this job, Jack couldn’t afford to be swayed by his emotions. It was dangerous; why had he let himself get this close to a colleague in the first place? The unexpected turmoil boiled away in his brain: he tried to reason with it. Ianto was a good man, and Jack was going to protect him, but he had to prove that he wasn’t letting his feelings get in the way of his job.

When he considered the question of Ianto’s immortality, however, his confidence wavered.

_I need to be sure_ , Jack thought. _I need to test his limits_.

Was he really willing to risk the man he loved, just to prove his own worth as the head of Torchwood?

(He knew what he had to do.)

* * *

“I feel… I don’t know. It’s weird, but I’d describe it as ‘yellow’.”

The Doctor was nodding absentmindedly as Ianto spoke, but she stopped and looked up at him as he said this - and just not a once-over, not confined to the surface. This was a proper, fairly intense yet fleeting _showdown_.

He swallowed.

“Ah feel like there’s somethin’ I’m missin’,” the Doctor groaned, her Yorkshire accent coming through strong, as it did when she was trying to find a missing link.

“Missing? What do you mean?”

“Miss… nope, it’s gone. Hiya,” she said as Jack walked into the room, with a packet of custard creams. “Ooh, thanks!” The Doctor shot up and snatched them from him, stuffing three into her mouth at once.

“Veyr Reghed Gs!” She grunted with her mouth full.

Jack blinked. “Are you speaking Welsh?” He yelped as Gwen jabbed him with her elbow.

“I said, they’re very good, guys!” She tried to cram two more in, and then turned to offer some to Gwen and Tosh; Jack laid his hand on Ianto’s arm, keeping his eyes on the Doctor to make sure she was still distracted.

“Come with me.”

Ianto looked lovingly up at Jack, happy to find some time alone even if it was in the middle of work. They headed to the kitchen, where there was a glass of water on the table. Jack picked it up and handed it to Ianto, who gratefully gulped it down.

“Ianto, we need to talk.” Ianto didn’t notice that Jack’s hand was shaking as he took the glass back and dropped it into the sink.

“Okay, where to?”

Shaking too much to pass off for casual, Jack didn’t reply, just led Ianto down to the basement.

“I don’t… Jack, I…” Ianto tried to form a sentence, but the words got stuck somewhere in his throat. Not even flinching, Jack marched on towards the farthest wall, and motioned for Ianto to stand there.

“What’s going… on?”

“Don’t try to talk.”

10 metres away, Jack stood with his feet shoulder-width apart and his arms braced, facing Ianto but avoiding his face.

Just as Ianto's legs buckled, Jack aimed his Webley at his chest.

* * *

A distinct gunshot rang out, audible from every corner of the Hub.

“What the hell was that.” The packet of biscuits dropped from the Doctor’s hand, as if in slow motion.

“It came from downstairs,” Owen volunteered.

In a split second the Doctor was at the entrance to the basement - she slid down the banister and landed with a thump, and the others followed

Gwen and Tosh had their guns to hand, and called out for Jack, receiving nothing but an echo in reply. When Owen kicked down the final door, the four of them stepped out from behind the wall and stopped dead.

The Captain was kneeling on the floor, holding Ianto's head in his lap and rocking back and forth.

Ianto squinted, trying to get rid of the black and white shapes forming in his vision. He couldn’t remember what had happened to him - he was scared, and writhed around on the ground, but Jack held him tight.

"Shh, it's alright. I'm here."

"Jack…" Ianto murmured, relaxing his body when he knew that he was in safe hands. "What happened? What did I do?"

"Nothing, you did nothing. It's all my fault."

"What is?"

“You - you’re like me,” he whispered, caressing Ianto's cheek. “You’re _timeless_.”

Jack leaned down and kissed him, but Ianto barely registered anything apart from the wetness of his cheek as he was consumed by darkness.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All will become clear in the next chapter... stay tuned 👀


	6. Thursday Afternoon: Timeless

Ianto Jones was, in a sense, Torchwood’s ‘national treasure’: he was kind, caring, funny, smart and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty or to step in when things got rough. Although the other Torchwood members didn’t really know much about his past, they cared for him like family.

On Gwen’s orders, Toshiko and Owen rushed over and knelt down, pulled Jack off of Ianto, and handled him roughly until he was up against the wall.

“Take him to the cells.” Gwen growled, her face contorted with fury. They obliged, and she monitored Ianto.

“Is he alive?” The Doctor asked. Somehow she was too frightened to move any closer.

“Holy shit, yes, he is! Ianto, stay with me, can you hear me?”

The Doctor watched Ianto’s body. His fingers twitched.

“He’s alive. We need to get him out of here.”

“You’re right. You take him to the autopsy room, and I’ll take care of Jack.” Her expression had hardened from concern for Ianto back to grim determination. “He’s gonna have a lot to fucking answer for.”

“Sorry, Gwen, but I don’t think I can…”

Gwen paused. “Oh, sorry,” she said. The Doctor had probably come across enough death already in her lifetime for a pacifist.

“No, I mean, really. I _really_ can’t. Something’s stopping me from going near him.”

* * *

“Hey! Get me out! What do you think you’re doing?” Jack snarled at Toshiko, who stood by his cell with both her and Owen’s guns in her hands. She ignored him.

“A’right, Harkness, what the fuck’s going on?” Gwen came down the stairs and walked right up to the glass of Jack’s cell, so she was as close to him as she could get.

“I’m not talking until you get me out of here.”

“Well, tough then.” She turned on her heels and motioned for Tosh to join her.

“No - wait - fine! But is Ianto okay?”

“WHAT DO YOU THINK!”

Jack jumped back from the glass, his face ridden with guilt. His voice was surprisingly calm, though.

“I did what I had to do. Please, Gwen, let me out and I can explain.”

“You’re a bloody murderer, Jack!”

“I’m gonna be a lot more than that if you don’t get me out of here _right_ _now_.”

“Was that a threat?!” She clenched her fists and lunged forward.

“Do as he says.”

The Doctor appeared at the entrance to the cells; she was like a ghost, half in shadow.

“I want to hear what he has to say for himself.”

Gwen held the Doctor’s gaze, defiant, but she eventually turned back around and unlocked Jack’s cell, cursing under her breath.

“Boardroom meeting. _Now_.”

* * *

Jack sat in his usual seat at the head of the table, and Toshiko, Gwen, Owen and the Doctor stood at the other end, arms folded and eyebrows raised. (Gwen, not being able to drag Ianto all the way to the autopsy room, had left him seated at Tosh’s computer station, slumped against the desk.)

“I don’t know what the hell you’re going to say but it better be worth our bloody time,” said Gwen.

“And worth - putting Ianto through that - you _shot_ him?” Tosh’s tone was unbelieving. Jack shooting Ianto? Impossible. No way. Those two were _endgame_.

Lifting his eyes to look at them and unclasping his hands, Jack cleared his throat.

“Was there a wound?”

“You’re not in a position to ask questions, mate.” Owen frowned. Gwen moved to sit on the chair to Jack’s left; the others stayed where they were.

“Okay, look, I shot him. He could’ve - what if he was immortal?”

“Yeah, what if? What was the poor lad going to _do_?”

“I don’t know! I was scared, I don’t know why. I wasn’t thinking straight. It was a precaution. C’mon Gwen, we all make mistakes.” He was beginning to plead, but Gwen was still going to make him suffer.

“What if he’d died, there and then? What if you’d _actually killed_ your precious Ianto, hey? Then what would you do?”

“It’s a risk I was willing to take!”

“WOULD YOU RISK IT WITH ME!” Gwen shot out of her seat, screaming, and Owen had to hold her down.

Everyone was shocked silent - Gwen was supposed to be the calm, rational one of the group. You could almost hear the anger bubbling away in her stomach, along with the hum of the Doctor’s brain, trying not to explode.

“He didn’t have a wound.” Gwen started, more quietly. “He’s alive. He was breathing when I brought him up.”

“My God…”

“Yeah.” Gwen turned to face the Doctor. “Do you know what it could be?”

“Wait,” Jack interrupted. “There’s one thing, Doctor. He was… glowing.”

The Doctor’s head snapped up. “Glowing?” Jack nodded.

“When I held him, he… yeah, it was like the rift energy was all around him, like a forcefield.”

“Hold on, guys,” The Doctor kept snapping her fingers, as if to pinpoint her thoughts. “What other symptoms have we noticed? Anything else out of the ordinary, I need to know.”

Tosh beamed, excited to have a chance to talk science. “There have been some weird meteorological disturbances in Cardiff for weeks now; storms, heavy rain, even snow. I’ve been tracking them and comparing them with the statistics for May since records began, but it’s completely unusual and also completely random. It can’t be natural, and it’s certainly not induced by humans or any alien tech, so my guess is that it’s because of all this rift energy that’s apparently emanating from Ianto.”

“Interesting…”

“And his heartbeat and blood pressure are rapidly elevated, way beyond human levels. Not even _Weevils_ have blood pressure that high, and they’re bloody feral.” Added Owen.

“ _Interesting…_ ”

At this moment, the doors to the boardroom swung open, and in tottered Ianto Jones, alive and, apparently, very well. There was a large tray in his hands, with five steaming china cups.

“Hi,” he smiled brightly, the corners of his eyes wrinkling. “I thought you’d like some tea. And I got the best china out too, just for you Doctor.” He winked at her as he handed out the drinks, and then set the tray on the table and stood by Jack, hands casually in his pockets, still smiling.

Gwen cleared her throat. “Ahem, Ianto…”

Ianto’s face fell momentarily, but he covered it up, dismissing Gwen’s awkwardness.

“Ah, yes, sorry. I’ll just be off…” He closed the doors carefully behind him. Still smiling.

Listening to make sure he’d gone, everyone put down their cups in unison.

Tosh was the first to speak. “What just happened?”

Owen checked his watch. “Half an hour ago he was shot, and _died_ , and right after resurrecting he’s made us all some tea. Which pissing idiot hired him?”

“How can he do that?” Tosh bit her lip. “Just go back to normal, without even a bullet wound?”

“Wrong question. What we need to ask is, why does he not remember being shot?” Asked the Doctor.

Jack decided that enough time had passed since his last contribution to this conversation. After all, he was still the team leader (though maybe not for much longer, he reckoned, but Gwen would probably do a better job anyway).

“Ah. Well. Uh, I don’t know why he isn’t hurt, but I need to tell you all something.” All eyes were on him, all mouths slightly ajar in anticipation - how could he possibly cock this up even more?

“He doesn’t remember becauseIkindofRetconnedhim.”

“YOU FUCKING WHAT-”

“NonononoGwen-” Owen had to tackle Gwen as she swung at Jack, her chair flying backwards into the wall.

“YOU’RE A FUCKING COWARD, JACK HARKNESS, AND YOU DON’T DESERVE HIM, AND I’M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY!” Gwen screamed, tears streaming down her face as Owen murmured, “Don’t, Gwen,” into her hair. Tosh couldn’t watch.

Jack held his nerve, staring straight ahead, practically unfazed. Cool as ice.

“Take her out,” the Doctor said as she passed Owen and stood over Jack. “You. I hope you know what you’ve done, and I hope it haunts you for as long as you live. Which is billions of years, by the way. You become a giant disembodied face.”

Sighing, Jack left the room, stiff-backed and sweaty. Owen took Gwen outside via the Rift Lift, to get some air.

* * *

One by one, Tosh watched everyone leave, until only her and the Doctor remained. She’d planned to catch her alone at some point, but not like _this_ ; she couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

Luckily for her, though, talking came naturally to the Doctor.

“You were really good there, with all that meteorololological stuff you explained. I can tell you’re the smart one of the team.”

Tosh leaned forward, her forearms on the table; the Doctor sat opposite her, swinging back on her chair.

“It’s _meteorological_ \- and thank you.” She pushed her glasses up on her nose, and tried to stay in control of her body, but couldn’t stop the heat rising at the back of her neck.

_Come on, say something, anything - give her a compliment_ , she willed herself.

“I like your, um, hair. It’s very blonde, it’s - it’s good.” _Oh my God, please let me disappear right now. Let me explode into trillions of atoms. Let me use your TARDIS and travel back in time so I can un-say that, let me -_

“Thanks; I’d like to say I grew it myself, but it came like this.”

Tosh wrinkled her nose. “Sorry, what do you mean, it _came_ like that.”

“It was like this when I - oh. _Oh_. Ohohohoh,” the Doctor shot out of the room and down the corridor, almost running headfirst into a glass door in the process. Tosh followed her, up to the greenhouse where Jack and Ianto were loitering.

“That energy,” the Doctor panted, out of breath from pounding up two flights of twisty stairs. “What did you say it was?”

“You mean the rift energy?” Jack asked, frowning.

“Yes! Except it isn’t rift energy.” She turned to Ianto, grabbing his shoulders and squeezing them way too hard. “You said you feel yellow on the inside, right?” He nodded quickly, panicking. “And you glowed - Jack, what colour was he glowing? Was it yellow?”

“A sort of yellowy-orange, yeah, like the usual type of rift energy. What’s your point?”

Ianto interrupted. “What do you mean I was _glowing_?”

“Sorry, no time to explain, brain going very fast right now. You see, it isn’t rift energy inside of you, Ianto, it all makes sense now!”

“What does? What do you mean?!” Tosh asked from behind, losing her patience.

“You - Tosh! You’re a genius!” The Doctor spun around and cupped Tosh’s face in her hands, briefly pressing her lips to her forehead. It was over in a flash, and the Doctor started babbling again like it had never happened, but Tosh clung on to Ianto for support and replayed the moment over in her mind several times before zoning back into reality.

“Now I know why my TARDIS kept bringing me here: she tracked the energy - _your_ energy,” pointing at Ianto, “from when you jumped through that so-called ‘rift’. But it wasn’t a rift!”

“Yes, you keep saying that, but what is it!”

“Oh, try to keep up! What type of energy glows bright yellow? Anyone? _All together now-_ ” she raised her arms as if waiting for everyone to suddenly understand, but their faces were all still blank. Except for Jack’s.

“No. It can’t be.”

“I think you’ll find it is.”

“... _Regeneration energy_?”

“Hoorah! We got there in the end. Think about it: the crazy meterololo- the weather caused by the ridiculous amounts energy in the atmosphere; elevated blood pressure, caused by - you're _really_ not gonna like this -”

“- two hearts.” Ianto blurted. The others faced him. He swayed on the spot, and Jack steadied him.

As quick as a flash, the four of them sprinted back down to the laboratory (Jack had to carry Ianto, whose breathing was becoming shallow and irregular); Gwen and Owen, watching them all rush down with wide eyes, hastily followed.

“Owen, can you wire Ianto up for a full biological scan?”

“I’m on it.” He pulled a bunch of wires and electrodes out of a box, ripped open Ianto’s shirt and stuck them onto his chest.

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat (and the Doctor’s skipped two) as they watched the big display of his Ianto’s rotating skeleton on the wall: sure enough, there were two shiny, red organs where there used to be one, tucked away on each side of his ribcage.

The Doctor moved forward and tentatively took Ianto’s hand; she closed her eyes, searching for a crack, a tear, a chasm within him. When she opened her eyes again, his fingertips glowed faintly orange, like burning embers.

“Ianto, I… I don’t know how, but _you’re a Time Lord_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO


	7. Reactions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of the action (short chapter)

Jack caught Ianto as he fainted, and picked him up like a bride. Or a corpse.

“Oh shit,” Gwen whispered, wringing her hands. “Oh bloody hell, what do we do?” They all eyed the Doctor, who was looking just as dumbfounded.

“I…”

“How could this happen, Doc?” Asked Jack. “It can’t be possible. He’s… mutated? Did he just grow another heart overnight?”

“And how did he not _notice_ ? Mind you, he’s always been a bit slow.” Everyone looked grimly at Owen - now was _not_ the time for snarky comments (though they knew that, deep down, he was just as worried as them).

Tosh interjected, her voice high with concern: “Will this be permanent? Can we cure him?”

“Being a Time Lord isn’t a disease, Tosh. We’re a species.”

“Oh - I - I know, sorry.”

“I can’t hold him for much longer.”

“Take him to bed,” Owen commanded. Jack raised his eyebrows, annoyed, but Owen smirked. Gwen kicked his shin, hard.

“Oi! I meant the bed in his office - to rest! I wasn’t suggesting he-”

“Maybe shut up, now,” Gwen faux smiled. Jack silently took Ianto upstairs.

“Um, Doctor,” Tosh started, nervously scratching the back of her neck. “Wait, where’d she go?”

The Doctor had disappeared.

Owen couldn’t stand such a serious atmosphere - he wasn’t made for drama; he was all about mucking around and making innuendos, while non-stressfully mending fatal wounds. The death/transformation/mutation of his teammate was kind of ruining the vibe, and he couldn’t find an opportunity for comic relief.

_Blimey, though_ , he thought. _This is real - Ianto’s really a Time Lord. He’s gonna regenerate, and maybe even live forever. Jack must be bloody_ loving _this._

Cue Jack, absolutely not loving this:

He lay Ianto’s body onto the bed, feeling a sense of déjà vu, and pulled the covers over him. No coherent thoughts could be formed; all he could do was smile down sadly at Ianto, the man with two hearts. The man who would be immortal, just like him.

Jack regretted that Ianto hadn’t died from the bullet.

Gwyneth Cooper was, understandably, still avoiding the Captain. As soon as he’d stopped whining over Ianto’s body, and gone to rehydrate himself, Gwen slipped into his office and sat by Ianto. Owen sauntered in after her, and was met with a frown, but nevertheless Gwen patted the space beside her. He sat.

“How did we not see this before?” Asked Gwen, leaning into Owen, who put his arm around her. “This is insane. We can’t even do anything for him, poor soul, he’s going to have to live with this.”

“I’m sure immortality isn’t a curse, Gwen.”

“Have you met Jack? He regrets every moment he’s alive.” She paused. “Will he have to go? Will Jack make him leave?”

“I dunno. No one knows. And even the Doctor’s buggered off - I don’t blame her though, Christ.”

Neither of them spoke further; the silence in the room was heavy, and the prospect of losing a member, whether in death or redundancy, weighed down on them both.

Jack dabbed at his eyes with a handkerchief, stuffed it back in his pocket and reached for the door handle of his office. He noticed Gwen, crying, and Owen straight=faced inside. His fingers brushed the chrome, but he let go and turned on his heel, heading towards the car park exit; he didn’t want to upset anybody else today.

Ianto was woken by the strong smell of women’s deodorant. Shapes swam in his eyes (he was still getting used to the blood pressure), and quickly cleared to reveal Gwen’s huge, wet eyes looking down at him. She moved closer, mouthing something that Ianto couldn’t hear.

“Please…” He croaked.

Her nose was just centimetres from his as she checked to see if his pupils were dilating. He could taste her breath - cheese and pickle.

“Please - don’t - kiss - me.” He spluttered, and Gwen snorted.

“No chance of that, sweetheart.” She moved back. “How are you? Do you remember anything?” Owen came into Ianto’s view, and squinted down at him.

“I’m fine.” Ianto tried to sit up on his elbows, but immediately fell back and hit his head on the metal headboard. “Oh, fuck off. No - not you, sorry.” He tried to get up again, and managed to swing his legs over the side of the bed. “Gwen, I want to go home. Please.”

“No way, you need to rest. You’re…”

“In a fragile state,” Owen finished for her.

Ianto looked up at her with his pleading, round eyes. “Please? I just want to make some decaf and get in my bed and sleep forever. Can I just go?”

Gwen’s firm expression was wavering. What would he do staying in the Hub, anyway?

She sighed. “Ag, alright, fine. Hold on,” she offered him her hands and he took them, pulling himself up. “Will you be alright going by yourself? Owen could take you.”

“No, he couldn’t,” said Owen.

“Oh piss off, it’s not like you’ve got anything better to do.” Before he could reply, she said calmly to Ianto, “I’ll take you, and tuck you in.”

“No thanks, mum, I can go on my own.” He carefully detached himself from Gwen’s grip, swaying.

Gwen was kind of grateful, as she already felt sick with anxiety and didn’t really want to spend more time with Ianto when conscious, as horrible as that sounded.

“If you’re sure…”

Ianto gave her a weak smile that told her he knew that she didn’t want to go.

“Here, let’s get your coat on…” Gwen held out his fancy raincoat and Ianto slotted his arms into it. He felt like he was 6 years old again, but he was in no place to object.

“Uh, Ianto, if you need - if you want to talk about it, you’ve got my number, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, okay.” Gwen wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. Ianto kept his arms by his side, for fear of toppling over if he moved too much. A dull pain throbbed in the back of his head.

“I don’t think I’m going to come in tomorrow. Just so you know.”

“No! Of course not. That’s fine, you get some rest. See you…”

It was dark outside. The rain came down in sheets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting folks, A levels and all that lol  
> (Also the reason we don't get Tosh's reaction here it because she's busy wandering around the Hub looking for the Doctor, because she is a total simp)
> 
> Chapter 8 (the final chapter) will be out tomorrow, but I'll also be posting 3 'extra' chapters: an epilogue, and 2 other scenes. Which are going to be better quality than this chapter I swear haha, and will lead on to the next story in the series!


	8. Finally, Friday.

8am. Jack was stirring a cup of coffee when Tosh came in, smiling in that awkward way of hers. She nodded to Jack, and he nodded back - she didn't seem _too_ pissed, he thought. He wasn’t sure about the others.

“Any sign of the Doctor?” he asked. Toshiko shook her head.

“Tosh, can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Do you think - and I want you to be honest here - do you think that I should, uh, give up my position? As the leader of Torchwood?”

Tosh didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say anything at all. Jack exhaled, expecting the worst, and pulled a Torchwood issue shotgun out of the back of his trousers, holding it out to her.

“No - what are you doing? Put it back!”

“C’mon, Tosh, we all know I messed up, big time. I betrayed everyone’s trust - I betrayed  _ Ianto’s _ trust.” He bowed his head, unable to look at her, but to his surprise, she was stifling a giggle.

“That doesn’t mean you have to leave - you’ve betrayed our trust loads of times!”

“Jee, thanks.”

“You know what I mean, numpty.” She straightened her back, and locked her eyes onto his, serious now. “You know what you did wrong, and not many leaders would admit to that. But,” she continued, “I think you better sort things out with Ianto, before you do anything else.”

* * *

10am. Ianto woke up on Friday morning feeling a hell of a lot better. His headache was gone, and he felt rejuvenated - good as new. Just as he opened his mouth to yawn, a bright voice piped up beside him.

“Morning!” The Doctor was sitting cross-legged where Jack usually slept, her coat folded up beside her. She leaped up and ran round to the other side of the bed, kneeling next to Ianto.

“Oh Jesus fuck, Doctor! How did you get in?”

“Never mind that. We need to talk.”

* * * 

1pm. Rhys was out in the country for his daily lunchtime run - something new that he was trying out. It was only his second time, mind you. And he was only really doing it because he thought Gwen might have a crush on one of the boys from work - she’d been acting a little strange recently.

He was just coming out of some woods, and had quite a painful stitch in his side, so he half-ran and half-limped up to a tree stump where he could rest. Just as he was about to sit down, he saw a pale apparition a few feet in front of him, and screamed.

Ianto screamed back.

“Who the hell are you?” Rhys asked indignantly, eyebrows knitted together. “You scared you living shit out of me, man!” He watched Ianto approach slowly; he looked a mess. “Ay, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

Ianto shrugged, and sank down, lying askew in the grass. Rhys bent down to see if he was breathing, but he got a twinge in his back and decided against it.

Ianto was looking peaky, even paler than his usual milky tone, and his dark hair was ruffled as if he’d been running his hands through it all morning. He exhaled melodramatically, and Rhys thanked God, because he wouldn’t know what to do if he found this lad’s corpse in the middle of the countryside.

“Ay, I see. Depressed, are you? Been there, done that, mate. Your girlfriend leave you, eh?”

“Uh, no?”

“Lost your job?”

“ No _ … _ ”

Rhys was finally able to sit down beside Ianto in the grass, and he clapped Ianto’s shoulder reassuringly.

“Whatever it is mate, give it time, yeah? That’s all you need. T ime .”

_ Is he trying to be funny? _ Ianto thought.

Rhys looked at his iPod Nano™️ and said, “I better be off. You look after yourself, yeah?”

Ianto mustered up the energy to nod vaguely at the guy - the sun was right behind him, so Ianto couldn’t even see his face.

Rhys jogged off, back into the woods.  _ Seemed like a strange young lad _ , he thought;  _ probably a druggie _ .

Exiting through the other side of the trees, on his way back into the city, he noted a blonde woman in what looked like fancy-dress - some sci-fi-esque coat with braces. Gosh, Rhys hadn’t seen someone in braces for  _ years _ . He figured that this place was probably for loonies, and decided that he would adjust his running route when he got home.

* * *

3pm. Sunlight filtered through the trees and onto Ianto Jones’ face; he was lying on his back in an empty field, a couple of miles outside of Cardiff, eyes shut and his head resting on his hands. The grass tickled his neck.

Despite the pleasant afternoon weather, though, Ianto felt cold, not only from the piercing breeze but also from somewhere within. The Doctor had told him that the energy pulsing through him would fade over a period of weeks; much time had passed since he went through the ‘rift’ that wasn’t actually a rift, but some sort of interdimensional tear left not long ago by another Time Lord.

When she said those words,  _ another Time Lord _ , the Doctor’s lips twitched with something like hatred. Ianto knew enough about twitching lips to know that - at this point, it was an unconscious reaction to Owen entering the room.

“No wonder you feel so happy,” she said, “you’ve been high on regen energy for so long.” Even the Doctor sounded astounded when talking about him. “The glowing should stop, soon, though. Not forever, because obviously you’ll have to regenerate.”

“Will I just keep on regenerating forever? Am I immortal now? And will I look different every time, like you do?”

“No Time Lord can regenerate forever.” The Doctor suppressed a bitter laugh, thinking of the Master and Tecteun and her hidden past, but she didn’t correct herself. She didn’t want to bombard Ianto with too much information all at once. “Who knows if you’ll change? You’re a miracle, a one-off, this shouldn’t have happened, I don’t know how it happened…” She paused for a moment, lost in thought. “Though I guess you’ve used one of your regens already, what with Jack saying that you were glowing…”

What was she on about? Jack said he was glowing? He remembers wishing that she would stop talking so he could start drinking.

Only snippets of their conversation floated up to the surface of Ianto’s memory, now - he was too befuddled to focus.  _ Time Lord Ianto Jones _ .

What a fucking week.

* * *

Twilight greeted Ianto when he awoke, the grass purple beneath him now. A hunched figure sat a few feet away, a silhouette among the stars.

Ianto sighed. “I was trying to get away from you, y’know.”

“Mm, I know.

“How did you find me?”

“TARDIS tracked your scent. Well, your energy. Feeling better?”

“No?”

“Ha. Thought so.”

“How long have you been there?” he mumbled sleepily.

“Erm, a few hours. I didn’t want to wake you.”

Ianto sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. The Doctor was sitting on a tree stump, leaning forward, elbows resting on her knees and a melancholy look in her eyes. They glistened, reflecting starlight, but Ianto guessed there might be tears there too.

"There's so much out there, Ianto. So much I can't even begin to describe - but you, you're the biggest mystery of all."

"I think you're exaggerating."

"Probably."

They watched the distant traffic of the city in silence, almost mesmerised by the blur of white, red, yellow. Birds were beginning to sing, so many different varieties all coming together to make a cacophony of noise that was slowly driving Ianto crazy.

"So what do I do now?" He gulped. “I’m helpless.”

The Doctor came over and kneeled by him, placing her hands on his shoulders, more gently this time. 

"Your whole world has just been turned on its head. You've no idea who you are anymore, but I can tell that that isn't a new feeling. You don't know what to do next, or where to go, but, Ianto, you have one thing that's going to help you get through this."

Before Ianto could ask what this mysterious 'thing' was, he noticed a grey haze come into view on the edge of the horizon. He thought it might be fog, until he discerned 4 thin blobs moving towards them.

"I let them track my sonic," the Doctor smiled, half apologetically. "But these people, your friends, are going to help you get through this."

"How can they help me? I'm not even human anymore - if anything, I feel… I feel different, I feel  _ dead _ compared to them." Fear crept into his voice, but the Doctor, as always, knew exactly the right thing to say.

"You're not dead, I promise. It's just a different kind of living.” She let go of him and they stood, side by side, watching the figures coming up the hill. Among them, Ianto could just make out Jack’s face, half-smiling, half-crying.

“Your story isn’t over yet, Ianto Jones.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, a new chapter of Ianto's life - and Torchwood - begins!
> 
> Do lmk what you think will happen next, I love hearing your theories :D
> 
> The final 3 chapters will be up shortly! x


	9. Epilogue: Saturday: Toshiko's Day

At Torchwood, you were expected to work Saturdays - the planet couldn't just protect _itself_ from alien threat every weekend, could it now?

So Toshiko woke up bright and early, showered, and put on her best suit: a dark purple jacket and skirt, with purple heels to match. It was obligatory to feel a million dollars on your birthday, even if you were on duty. (And even if neither the man _or_ the woman you had a crush on would care to notice.)

The Doctor was long gone - she'd zoomed off to God knows where last night, in her big old TARDIS, probably with some friends she'd picked up along the way. In this way, Tosh was jealous: _she_ never got to go anywhere crazy like that.

But, after giving it some thought, she realised that Torchwood was enough for her: the aliens, the people, the paycheck and the loneliness wasn’t so bad after a few years.

Mundanity greeted Toshiko as she entered the Hub through the main entrance: no one was there to welcome her or burst one of those party-popper things with confetti in them; there was no bunting, balloons or cake. Determined not to let that get her down, she walked confidently up to her station and logged on, convincing herself that she was grateful for the peace and quiet.

After a while, she became suspicious. No one else had appeared yet - not even Jack, who literally _lived_ in the Hub. Tosh wandered over to his office; empty. Perhaps Owen would be in the lab, or the autopsy room? Both empty. Ianto wasn’t making coffee, and Gwen was nowhere to be seen.

Tosh turned on comms.

“Hello? Is anyone there? I’m in the Hub… is there a mission that I’m not aware of?” Tearing up, she removed her earpiece and threw it down on her desk. They’d gone somewhere without her. That stung.

On her way out, having given up, she needed to use the loo. Just as she reached out for the door handle, Tosh heard a hushed whisper coming from the kitchen.

“Hello?”

There was a round of shushing, and Tosh felt sick to her stomach. Had a Weevil gotten in, or something? Or - even worse - a civilian. Tosh pulled out the swiss army knife she kept on her person at all times.

Moving closer to the entrance of the kitchen, she pressed herself against the wall and strained to hear. Suddenly, Owen lunged out at her, and, falling short, dropped to the floor as if he’d been thrown forward by something with superhuman strength.

“Oi! Oh, bollocks - she knows we’re here, guys.” He got to his feet and smiled at Toshiko, motioning for the others to come out.

“Wh - what’s going on?” Tosh, genuinely confused, still held her knife aloft.

“Put that away, will ya. Surprise!” Owen’s out-of-character, enthusiastic jazz hands gave way to Gwen and Ianto, limping out of the kitchen under the weight of a massive - an absolutely fucking _gigantic_ \- birthday cake. We’re talking a five-tiered, multi-coloured, buttercream-smothered _extravaganza_.

Toshiko, naturally, started to cry. Jack took over from Gwen and him and Ianto put the cake down, while Gwen hugged Tosh, which made her cry even harder.

“Oh, darlin’, don’t cry! We were going to surprise you but Owen fucked it up, turns out he can’t bake for shit. So we had to nip to Tesco’s at 5 in the morning and Ianto managed to bake you up a treat, isn’t he a star. I’m so sorry if we scared you, it’s just that we only just managed to get the buttercream on, the cake was so hot. We wanted it to be a surprise!” Gwen paused for breath. “Happy birthday, sweetie.”

The others echoed this, patting Tosh on the back and generally being nicer to her than they’d ever been.

Letting go of her, Gwen wiped the tears from Tosh’s cheeks and said, “Cut the cake?”

Toshiko couldn’t help laughing through her tears; she nodded, and Gwen steered her over to the table where it lay. Ianto stood beside it, proud of his achievement.

“There are 3 tiers of lemon drizzle with homemade strawberry jam, and 2 tiers of chocolate orange with marmalade in between. Your favourites, I know,” he beamed. “But I don’t know if they’ll taste good _together_. Maybe eat them separately. This thing’ll last about a week anyway.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Ianto!” Toshiko embraced him, and he picked her up and whirled her round.

“You deserve it. The things you do… Torchwood couldn’t survive a day without you.”

“Stop it, you’ll make me cry again.” Tosh got back to the matter at hand, and picked up a huge cake knife. As it sunk into the cake, the sound of grinding metal made everyone wince and cover their ears.

“It’s her!” Shouted Jack above the racket.

A cloud of smoke rose from around the corner, and out jumped the Doctor, with ash in her hair and black smears on her cheeks.

“Did ah miss the party?”

Everyone watched her, confused but in awe. Gwen and Ianto moved forward (Ianto to take her coat; Gwen to ask her what had happened), but Jack held them back. They watched Toshiko slowly move forward, still clutching the knife.

“Alright, everyone move. Give ‘em some space.” Jack led the others into the kitchen, out of earshot.

“Hello, Tosh.”

“Hi, Doctor. How… why are you here?”

“Pah! Why am I here? Couldn’t miss it - love a good party, me.”

Tosh laughed nervously, and the Doctor joined in. It was at the same moment that they both realised Tosh was still holding the massive cake knife.

“That’s not for me, is it?”

“Of course not.” She put the knife back on the table. “But this is.”

Standing up on her toes, Toshiko cupped the Doctor’s face with her hands and softly kissed her. To her surprise, the Doctor kissed her right back - not knowing where to place her arms, she awkwardly let them rest on Tosh’s waist, then her hips, then her back.

By the time they’d got into a rhythm, Tosh pulled away.

“Um.” The Doctor stammered, “Wow. Thanks? I- I had no idea, you, uh, um…”

“Take me with you, Doctor,” she sighed dreamily. “Let me travel with you, we could see the stars. _Together_.” Her sudden hopefulness was heartbreaking for the Doctor, who’d had this conversation countless times before, and knew exactly where it was headed.

She shook her head. “You wouldn’t want that. What you have here,” she motioned around her, “it’s stable, reliable. I’m not that.”

“I don’t want reliable. I want _exciting_ . For once in my life I want to… to…” Toshiko was lost for words. What _did_ she want?

“Isn’t this exciting enough for you? You get to save the world, every day, with your friends.”

“But I want to save the world with you!”

The Doctor smiled sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Just did.” The Doctor pulled Tosh back in for one, last kiss. For a few seconds, everything around them melted away as they breathed each other in. When they broke apart, Tosh noted the smears of her pink lipstick on the Doctor’s lips, and smirked.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” mouthed the Doctor. Tosh felt her breath on her neck, and shivered. “Now, go party!” She wrapped her arm around Tosh’s waist and led her into the kitchen, where the others were pouring drinks and laughing. Tosh looked fondly up at the Doctor, then joined the others. The Doctor just stood there, arms folded and grinning at her little group of alien-catching friends.

Noticing her, Jack drifted over. He was the only one of them without a drink in his hand.

“Have a day off, Captain.”

“I don’t do ‘days off’. You know that.”

“Have an hour off, then.” The Doctor’s expression was mischievous.

Jack laughed it off, sighing.

“I can tell when you’re worried,” said the Doctor. “Your forehead goes all wrinkly. Aren’t you supposed to be immune to wrinkles?”

He ignored the Doctor’s attempt at diverting the inevitable conversation.

“Doc… the Angels said he was weak…”

“Don’t worry about that. He’s practically invincible now.”

“He won’t ever die?”

“Meh. He might not, he might. You’ll have to wait and see.”

Jack didn’t like the sound of that.

“And on that note, I’d better be off. Daleks to stop, galaxies to defend, you know the drill.” She awkwardly clapped her hands, unsure of where they stood. Were they going to embrace dramatically, or just wave a half-hearted farewell?

The Captain stood up straight, saluted.

“See you in a hundred years, ma’am.”

The Doctor, who’d never been one for saluting, simply jumped up and clung onto him, wrapping her limbs around him like a koala.

“Do I really become a disembodied face?” Jack whispered. The Doctor tenderly pressed her hand to his temple.

“What was that?” She asked.

“What was what?”

“Ah, nothing.” The Doctor let go of Jack and straightened her coat. He watched her go; just before she turned the corner, she looked back at him once more, and winked. He waved, blinked, and she’d disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Actually, maybe he’d imagined that last bit.

* * *

Heading back to the others, Jack was greeted by a slightly drunk Ianto, who handed him a cup of beer. For once, he accepted it.

“Ah, Gwen,” he said as he noticed her purposefully walking over to him. He smiled carefully, ready for reconciliation of sorts; but Gwen, being Gwen, swung back and punched him square in the jaw. Ianto caught him as he reeled back; there was blood on his lip, and maybe a loose tooth.

“I gotta admit,” he winced, “I deserved that.”

Gwen spoke into his ear so that the others, especially Ianto, couldn’t hear: “On behalf of Ianto, I will never forgive you for what you did. And if you hurt him again, Harkness, I swear to God I will tell him that you killed him without so much as a second thought.” Then she leaned back and smiled sweetly, as if she’d just told him her grandma’s lemon drizzle cake recipe rather than threatened him. Jack, despite the sick feeling in his stomach, suppressed his frustration and just shook his head.

_She’s back_ , he thought.

Owen nodded at Jack, and Jack grabbed his arm, pulling him in for a kiss and dipping him gracefully. Owen spluttered.

“Really, Cap’n, you’re not my type.”

“You’re not mine either. Just letting you know that I appreciate you.”

Ianto, not at all jealous, simply laughed and slung an arm around Jack’s shoulder.

As the five of them danced to bad 80s disco music, Jack caught Tosh’s eye, and they looked at each other knowingly. That was the danger of knowing the Doctor - you couldn’t go back to normal life; normal people. The ghost of a frown appeared on Tosh’s face, but it soon faded as a drunk Gwen, who’d been dancing around like a madwoman, knelt down on one knee before Tosh, and exclaimed;

“Shall we go for drinks, m’lady?”

For the first time in a long while, Toshiko felt like she truly belonged here, at Torchwood - even if it _was_ just for one day a year.

She took Gwen’s hand and politely kissed it.

“Yes. Drinks!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy all you Doctor Who stans are gonna FLIP when you read the extra scenes haha


	10. Extra scene: Master

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor has a hunch as to who is responsible for Ianto's metamorphosis. I mean, who else would go around wreaking havoc with Weeping Angels in the 19th century, and leave something dangerous behind?

The Doctor left her friends behind, and went back to her still smoking TARDIS. She didn’t know what had happened - at a guess, one of the very complicated console things had blown up mid-flight. She hadn’t even meant to end up in the Torchwood Hub, but, hey, she’d gotten a good kiss out of it.

But the Doctor didn’t want to think about Toshiko right now: there were more pressing matters on her mind. She closed her eyes.

“Where are you.” She whispered, clenching her teeth. It wasn’t a question.

“Wow, old school. I like it. You only ever invade my consciousness when there’s  _ trouble _ .” Her sing-sing voice was more menacing than ever.

“Did you do this?”

“Do  _ what _ ?” Missy’s mock innocence was infuriating. If the Doctor was physically there, she was sure she wouldn’t have been able to resist knocking her out.

“I said,  _ tell me where you are _ .”

“No chance, darling. You wouldn’t want to know. But - oh! - I’ve got a little surprise for you!”

The Doctor opened her eyes, and she was back in her TARDIS. She’d tried to cut off the Master’s voice, but it was still there; that goading laugh, those haunting yet beautiful notes in the back of her mind like an itch.

An alarm blared, and bright red lights flashed all around the Doctor. A troop of Judoon officers materialised before her, about 12 of them, all pointing their weapons right at her. Five red dots on each heart, two in the space between her eyes.

“ _ See you soon, my love. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bet ya didn't see THIS coming
> 
> Last chapter out tomorrow watch out!


	11. Extra Scene: Saturday Evening: Unfinished Business

“So. I’m kinda like you.”

Jack smiled wryly. “You’re kinda like me.”

“It’s weird.”

“Yup.”

They were in the kitchen - not in the Hub, but back at Ianto’s flat. Ianto sat on the counter, while Jack leaned against the fridge opposite him, arms folded against his chest. It was still light outside, but the sky was fading fast.

“I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“You know when you said to the Doctor that I was glowing, what did you mean? When did that happen?”

Could he really not remember? Jack had used the weakest dose of Retcon, out of pure guilt.  _ What a luxury _ , he mused,  _ to be able to forget _ . The sight of Ianto collapsing before him would never grow dim. Perhaps he should Retcon himself too.

“It’s nothing, really.”

“I know when you’re lying.”

“How?”

“So you’re lying then.”

“No!”

“Mmm, yes you are.”

“Christ, you’re so annoying.”

The doorbell rang, and the bickering stopped.

“Who’s that?”

“Dunno. Go open it.”

“Why me? It’s  _ your _ flat.”

“You want to sleep in the Hub tonight?”

“Ugh, fine!” Jack huffed in mock irritation. He unlatched the door and it swung open.

A young, Indian policewoman stood before him, with two long braids and a lot of piercings.

“Captain Jack Harkness?”

“That’s me. What’s up, officer?”

“I’m going to need you to come with me, Sir. Courtesy of the Judoon.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Thank you to everyone who has read this far 🥰  
> Do leave a kudos if you liked this story or a comment if you want to tell me what you liked and what you didn't (I can take criticism lol)  
> And, yes, I've set this up for the Christmas special episode this year, but (if I even have TIME) I'm gonna write my own version of the Doctor in prison :)  
> Love you all very much, see you soon! x


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